Those solar energy companies receiving millions of dollars in support from the U.S. government would never want to admit it, but their product is a whole lot worse for the planet than they ever let on. Solar energy produces less pollution than fossil fuels, to be sure, but it’s not exactly as "clean" as most people think it is.
The process of making solar panels, in fact, creates large quantities of hazardous waste which must sometimes be shipped to alternate sites for treatment or storage. In California, over 46 million pounds of hazardous waste was created between 2007 and mid-2011. Of that, 97% stayed in California to be treated. 1.4 million pounds was transported to other states via trucks or rails. In some cases, waste was transported thousands of miles.
The fossil fuels used to transport the waste aren’t typically included in calculations of the energy source’s carbon footprint…but it should be. After installing a solar panel, "it would take one to three months of generating electricity to pay off the energy invested in driving those hazardous waste emissions out of state," said Dustin Mulvaney, a San Jose State University environmental studies professor. Also not included in calculations is the amount of water and other materials used to treat the materials, and perhaps even more fossil fuels used to transport treated material elsewhere.
Solar industry executives insist they want to do better. Notes John Smirnow, vice president for trade and competitiveness at the Solar Energy Industries Association, "We want to take the lessons learned from electronics and semiconductor industries (about pollution) and get ahead of some of these problems."
The process of making solar panels, in fact, creates large quantities of hazardous waste which must sometimes be shipped to alternate sites for treatment or storage. In California, over 46 million pounds of hazardous waste was created between 2007 and mid-2011. Of that, 97% stayed in California to be treated. 1.4 million pounds was transported to other states via trucks or rails. In some cases, waste was transported thousands of miles.
The fossil fuels used to transport the waste aren’t typically included in calculations of the energy source’s carbon footprint…but it should be. After installing a solar panel, "it would take one to three months of generating electricity to pay off the energy invested in driving those hazardous waste emissions out of state," said Dustin Mulvaney, a San Jose State University environmental studies professor. Also not included in calculations is the amount of water and other materials used to treat the materials, and perhaps even more fossil fuels used to transport treated material elsewhere.
Solar industry executives insist they want to do better. Notes John Smirnow, vice president for trade and competitiveness at the Solar Energy Industries Association, "We want to take the lessons learned from electronics and semiconductor industries (about pollution) and get ahead of some of these problems."
